Ezekiel 46

1 “‘This is [also] what [I], Yahweh the Lord, declare: The east entryway of the inner courtyard must be shut during the six days in which people work each week, but on the Sabbath days and on the days when there is a new moon, that entryway must [remain] open until that evening.

The Lord Yahweh says this: The gate of the inner courtyard, facing east, will be shut for the six days of work, but on the Sabbath it will be opened, and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.

2 The king must enter the courtyard through the entry room of the entryway, and stand alongside the entry post. [Then] the priests must sacrifice the animal that the king brought to be completely [on the altar], and also his offering to maintain fellowship with me. The king must worship me at the entrance of the entryway, and then he must go out. [After he leaves], the entryway will not be shut until that evening.

The prince will enter the outer courtyard by the way of the gate and its portico from outside, and he will stand before the doorposts of the inner gate while the priests perform his burnt offering and peace offering. Then he will worship at the threshold of the inner gate and go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.

3 On the Sabbath days and on the [days when there is a] new moon, the people must worship [me] at the entrance of the entryway.

The people of the land will also worship before Yahweh at the entrance to this gate on the Sabbaths and new moons.

4 The offering that the king brings to be completely burned on the Sabbath day must be six lambs and one ram, all with no defects.

The burnt offering that the prince offers to Yahweh on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram.

5 The offering [that he gives] with the ram must be a bushel of grain, and the grain [that he offers] with the lambs should be as much as he desires to offer, along with (1 gallon/3.8 liters) of [olive] oil for each bushel [of grain].

The grain offering with the ram will be an ephah, and the grain offering with the lambs will be what he wishes to give, and a hin of oil with each ephah of grain.

6 [Then] each day that there is a new moon, he must offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all with no defects.

On the day of the new moon he must offer an unblemished bull from a herd, six lambs, and an unblemished ram.

7 He must [also] provide one bushel of grain with the bull, one bushel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he wants with the lambs, along with one quart/liter of [olive] oil with each bushel [of grain].

He must make a grain offering of an ephah for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and what he wishes to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah of grain.

8 When the king enters [the temple area], he must enter through the entry room of the entryway, and he must go out through that same entry room [when he leaves].

When the prince enters by the way of the gate and its portico, he must leave by the same way.

9 When the Israeli people come to worship me at the festivals that I have appointed, those who enter the temple area through the north entryway must go out through the south entryway. And those who enter through the south entryway must go out through the north entryway. People must not go out through the entryway through which they entered; they must go out through the opposite entryway.

But when the people of the land come before Yahweh at the appointed festivals, anyone entering through the north gate to worship must leave through the south gate; and anyone entering through the south gate must leave through the north gate. No one may turn back to the gate through which he entered, for he must go out straight ahead.

10 The king must go in when the other people go in, and go out when the people go out.

The prince must be in their midst; when they go in, he must go in, and when they leave, he must leave.

11 During the festivals and sacred feasts, the king must present a bushel of grain along with each bull or ram, and as much grain as he wants to bring, along with the lambs and (1 gallon/3.8 liters) of olive oil with each bushel of grain.

At the festivals, the grain offering must be an ephah of grain for the bull and an ephah for the ram, and whatever he wishes to give with the lambs, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

12 When the king gives an offering that is not required, either one to be completely burned [on the altar] or an offering to maintain fellowship with [me, Yahweh, the entryway on the east side of the courtyard] must be opened for him. Then he must present those offerings like he does on the Sabbath days. Then he must go out, and after he goes out, the entryway must be shut.

When the prince gives a freewill offering, either a burnt offering or a peace offering to Yahweh, the gate facing east will be opened for him. He will offer his burnt offering offering or his peace offering as he does it on the Sabbath day. Then he must go out, and after he has gone out the gate will be shut.

13 Every day, during the morning, someone must provide a one-year-old lamb with no defects to be an offering to me that will be completely burned.

In addition, you will give an unblemished lamb one year old as a burnt offering to Yahweh daily; you will do this morning after morning.

14 Someone must also provide each morning an offering of flour. It must be one sixth of a bushel of flour mixed with one quart/liter of [olive] oil. These offerings of flour and olive oil to must be presented [to me], Yahweh, each day.

You will give a grain offering with it morning after morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil to moisten the flour of the grain offering for Yahweh, according to a permanent statute.

15 The lamb and the offering of flour and [olive] oil must be presented to me every morning, to be completely burned on the altar.

They will prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and the oil morning after morning, a permanent burnt offering.

16 This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, declare: If the king gives some of his land to one of his sons, to belong to him permanently, it will then belong to his son’s descendants forever.

The Lord Yahweh says this: If the prince gives a gift to any of his sons, it is his inheritance. It will be the property of his sons, it is an inheritance.

17 However, if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, the servant is allowed to keep that land until the Year of Celebration. Then the king will own it again; the king’s land must belong to his descendants forever.

But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, then it will be that servant's until the year of liberty, and then it will return to the prince. His inheritance will certainly be for his sons.

18 The king must not take any land that the people own and force them to live somewhere else. The land that he gives to his sons must be from his own property, [not from anyone else’s property], in order that none of my people will be forced to leave his own property.’”

The prince will not take the people's inheritance away from their own property; he must provide for his sons from his own property so that my people will not be scattered, each man from his own property.'”

19 Then, [in the vision], the man [who was showing the temple area to me] brought me through the entrance alongside the entryway and led me to the sacred rooms on the north side, the rooms that the priests used, and he showed me a place at the western end [of those rooms].

Next the man brought me through the entrance at the gate to the holy rooms for the priests, which faced north and behold! There was a place toward the west.

20 He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must cook the meat of the offerings that people bring in order to no longer be guilty for having sinned, and offerings for their sins, and where they will bake bread made with the flour brought to be offerings. [They will cook those things in their rooms] in order to avoid bringing them into the outer courtyard [to cook them there], lest someone [be punished because of] touching them.”

He said to me, “This is the place where the priests must boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they must bake the grain offering. They must not bring the offerings into the outer courtyard, for then the people would be consecrated.”

21 Then the man brought me to the outer courtyard and led me to its four corners. In each corner I saw an enclosed area;

Then he brought me to the outer courtyard and he led me past the four corners of that courtyard, and I saw that in at every corner of the courtyard there was a another court.

22 each of those areas was (70 feet/21.2 meters) long and (52-1/2 feet/15.9 meters) wide.

In the four corners of the outer courtyard there were four small courtyards, forty cubits in length and thirty in width. There the same dimensions for all four of the courtyards.

23 Around the inside of each of those enclosed areas was a stone ledge, with places to make fires all around under each ledge.

There was a row made of stone all around the four of them, and cooking hearths were under the stone row.

24 The man said to me, “These are the kitchens where [the descendants of Levi] who work in the temple must cook the sacrifices that the people bring.”

The man said to me, “These are the places where the temple servants will boil the people's sacrifices.”